Archive for the ‘Society and culture’ category

Bunyoro Kingdom – Empango Celebrations inauguration run, Hoima, Uganda De Muzungu’s developed a taste for hanging out with Ugandan Royals recently, so when I heard Kampala Hash House Harriers – the Hash – were (dis)organising...

There was an explosion of noise as the Kabaka arrived for Prince David Wasajja’s wedding at Rubaga Cathedral, Kampala. It’s not every day (week / month / lifetime) that you get an invitation to a Royal Wedding, so what’s a girl to...

I love Namuwongo, it’s where I first fell in love with Uganda but I’m sure many Ugandans would shudder hearing that. Like many other Kampala slums, Namuwongo slums have a history: they were a no-go area for many years. It’s no...

Welcome to Diary of a Muzungu! This is a guest post. We’re all familiar with Africa as a film set – from Blood Diamond to the Last King of Scotland, western filmmakers have big budgets, high spec gear. As such, the world is their...

Being a Muzungu (having a white skin) defines me as rich, or so the Rollex man tells me: “For us we know you are rich.” Let’s talk English semantics here: when he says he knows I’m rich, he could also mean he believes I am rich. Are...

As one of the shiny new fighter jets flies over my house, no doubt practising for this Tuesday’s independence day fly-past, I’m mulling over the week-end papers, full of stories about Uganda@50 and what the last 50 years of independence...

The air is damp and heavy, the air is cool and last week’s fine dusty fine marram earth is compacted beneath our feet. Limbs have been torn off the Pawpaw tree the other side of the compound wall and a single giant leaf, over four metres...

Check out the guys playing the giant xylophone at Kikorongo! “Community tourism” bundles up a diverse range of activities – and can be great fun! – as a lucky group of us found out on a three-day UCOTA / Pearls of...

#UgandaisnotSpain Er … we knew that. The American showman, entertainer and sometime scam artist, Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810 – 1891) was remembered for founding his famous circus and for a number of well-known sayings, such as...

Bananas are Uganda’s favourite fast food. They require no preparation, no refrigeration – and they’re cheap; just reach out your arm and you’ll find one – in villages, along the roadside, in the corner shop and balanced...